Integrated circuits with combined control and driver functions are often referred to as smart power devices. Smart power devices combine high intelligence with low power dissipation. They typically have power Metal Oxide Semiconductor, MOS, Field Effect Transistors, FETs, in their output stages designed to operate at higher voltages, such as 15-80 volts as opposed to the normal Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, CMOS, logic voltage of typically 5 volts or less, and incorporated on the same integrated circuit with logic devices so that both a driver function and a controller function are provided in a single chip. Many applications exist for smart power devices such as Liquid Crystal Display, LCD, displays, electro/mechanical devices, automobile electronic devices, projection TV, and even High Definition, HDTV.
A technique for fabricating high voltage, HV, MOS devices is described in an article entitled "High Voltage Thin Layer Devices (RESURF Devices)," IEDM Proceedings, 1979, pp 238-241. This technique uses a shallow lightly doped region between the drain and channel regions of the device. This shallow lightly doped region is referred to as a drift region because of the low amount of current carriers (carriers being electrons or "holes") that are available due to the low level of impurity doping and the device is known as a Reduced Surface Field, RESURF, device.
RESURF techniques are utilized in manufacturing high voltage N-channel Lateral Double Diffused MOS, LDMOS, devices and high voltage, P-channel LDMOS, devices. However, problems exist in manufacturing smart power devices containing such RESURF LDMOS devices. Conventional high voltage power devices typically employ double twin-well (tank) implants in order optimize the high voltage N-channel, HV NMOS, and high voltage P-channel, HV PMOS, devices. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a typical smart power device manufactured by such double twin well implant process. High voltage devices HV NMOS 6 and HV PMOS 7 and low voltage devices LV NMOS 8 and LV PMOS 9 lie on n-type substrate 10. HV NMOS 6 has an n-tank 21 lying within a p-well 20 and a D-well 28 and 28a lying within p-well 20 and adjacent to n-tank 21. HV PMOS 7 has a p-tank 41 lying within an n-well 40 and a D-well 48 and 48a lying within n-well 40 and adjacent to p-tank 41. LV NMOS 8 has a p-well 60 and LV PMOS 9 has an n-well 80. In a conventional double twin-well (tank) process, n-tank 21 and D-well 48 and p-tank 41 and D-well 28 typically require compromised cross optimized process steps that are different from the process steps used to form wells 60 and 80 of low voltage CMOS devices 8 and 9. Separate implant steps and diffusion steps are required.
The double twin-well implant process undesirably requires multiple cross process steps to optimize the electrical parameters of the N-channel and P-channel high voltage devices while maintaining the parameters of the low voltage CMOS devices. Fabricating an integrated circuit containing standard low voltage CMOS devices and high voltage PMOS and NMOS devices typically requires many extra process steps for the HV PMOS and HV NMOS devices.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a simple method to manufacture smart power devices.
It is also an object of the invention to eliminate process steps required to manufacture low power MOS devices and high power MOS devices on the same integrated circuit.
Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having reference to the following figures and specification.